


Broken Bones

by binahlance



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bonding, F/M, Gen, Nightmares, PTSD symptoms, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recovery, Stargazing, can be interpreted as romance or as friendship, shiro and allura are insomniac buddies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 04:20:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7419520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/binahlance/pseuds/binahlance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro woke up screaming, hands scrabbling at bedsheets, his heart pounding and breath coming in short, uneven gasps. In the darkness, things that were not human lurked, hovering over him, poking and prodding and whispering in languages he’d never heard before. They clawed at him and grinned like the big bad wolf; they were going to tear him apart, rip out his soul, replace him bit by bit with a monster of their own design --</p>
<p>He fell out of bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>OR "Shiro and Allura both have nightmares, and they both find comfort in watching the stars."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Bones

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually requested by an anon on Tumblr, who asked me to write a one-shot based on my headcanons about Shiro and Allura both having nightmares and keeping each other company on sleepless nights.
> 
> Based off of the reboot on Netflix (as much as I love the original).
> 
> Shiro and Allura are my two favorite characters, so I really enjoyed writing this! Their relationship in this fic can be interpreted as romantic or platonic, it's honestly up to you.

Shiro woke up screaming, hands scrabbling at bedsheets, his heart pounding and breath coming in short, uneven gasps. In the darkness, things that were not human lurked, hovering over him, poking and prodding and whispering in languages he’d never heard before. They clawed at him and grinned like the big bad wolf; they were going to tear him apart, rip out his soul, replace him bit by bit with a monster of their own design --

He fell out of bed.

Laying on the cool metal floor, gazing up at the ceiling in the near-darkness of his room, he tried to slow his erratic breathing. He knew where he was now. Not in some Galran warship stuffed full of prisoners from every corner of the galaxies, but in Princess Allura’s castle. He was safe here; he had friends here. The monsters hadn’t beaten him -- he’d escaped, and now he was part of something bigger.

Not that he hadn’t lost things. He glanced down at his right hand, metal glinting in the dark. With a huff, he pulled his sleeve down to cover it.

Back on Earth, he used to sleep shirtless. Now, he always wore long sleeves, no matter how hot it was.

He couldn’t stand the sight of it. It was all too harsh of a reminder that the Galrans had taken something that he could never get back.

He sat up slowly, his pulse still just a bit too fast. He didn’t remember what he had dreamed, whether it had been memories resurfacing or imagined horrors. He never remembered his dreams. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

He sat on the edge of his bed and tried to pretend that his hands weren’t still shaking. He could lay back down, pretend nothing happened, think happy thoughts and try to convince himself that he was alright.

Yeah, like that ever worked.

With a sigh, he got up, yanked his blanket off the bed, and stole out the door.

 

Princess Allura was a pillar of strength. She was the team’s leader, the protector of her people’s legacy, the proud descendent of a royal line dating back centuries. She was stable, and rational, and confident, because that was what the universe needed her to be. 

But at night, when she was alone with her memories and her grief, she did not feel strong. She did not feel like a leader, or a protector, or a savior of the universe.

She felt like a sad, scared, lonely little girl who was still reeling from watching her entire planet die.

Of course, for the rest of the universe, it had been thousands of years since Altea’s destruction. But for Allura, it felt as if it had only been weeks. She’d slept for so long, and yet the sorrow was still fresh. Her people were gone, her home destroyed, her father dead. And she remembered all of it.

She dreamed of fire in the sky, of Galran soldiers storming her people’s cities, of the screams and cries of an entire race being massacred. She dreamed of the cold, unfeeling chamber where she had been frozen for a thousand generations.

This was her burden, her legacy.

She separated herself from the blankets and pillows of her bed, the metal floor cool on her bare feet. There would be no restful slumber tonight, of that she was certain.

It was time to make a visit to the stars.

 

Shiro sat in the floor of the bridge, next to one of the giant windows looking out into space. He was in an unfamiliar galaxy full of foreign constellations, but he found comfort in the knowledge that somewhere out there, on the other side of an eternity, was his home.

As a child, he had always loved the stars. He would lay outside in the grass on summer nights, gazing up at the heavens, and dream of reaching them. That was why he’d signed up with the Garrison -- to see the stars.

The Kerberos mission had been his first trip beyond the atmosphere as an official team member, rather than a student. It had been exciting, thrilling even, the feeling of leaving the Earth behind. 

He’d give anything to see Earth again.

He pulled his blanket tighter around his shoulders. He suddenly felt cold.

 

When Allura reached the bridge, Shiro was already there, sitting cross-legged by one of the windows, a blanket around his shoulders, his face to the cosmos. She wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t the first time they’d shared a sleepless night, and it wouldn’t be the last.

She knew about his nightmares, and she knew that he knew about hers. They never spoke of it, but they could both feel it, hanging in the silence between them. 

What was that Earth phrase she’d heard Lance use? “It takes one to know one.”

She sank down on the floor next to him, slipping into the comfortable silence that they always shared on nights like this. Without speaking, or even looking at her, Shiro lifted one arm, extending the blanket in a clear invitation. Allura slid over until her side touched his, close enough that he could wrap the blanket over her shoulders, effectively covering both of them. She smiled, grateful for the welcome reprieve from the cool night air.

For a time they just sat like that, shoulder-to-shoulder, sharing warmth and comfort in their usual fashion. She could feel his chest move with each calm, measured breath, and she knew without words that he was thinking about the year he had lost. She wondered if he would ever fully remember the horrors of that missing year. She wondered if he would be better or worse off when he did.

She thought about her own horrors, about the Galran fleet blotting out the sun, about the way her father had looked at her when he sealed her away. Would she be better off if she couldn’t remember them? Would she forget them if she could?

No, she decided. Her memories of Altea and its people were all that was left of the planet and its once-great culture. The things she had suffered through and the battles she had lost were what made her who she was. She was Allura, Princess of Altea, and though her past had been filled with suffering and loss, it had given her a strength that she knew she would need in the coming war.

Shiro shuddered next to her, and she wondered if he had remembered something. Her hands found his under the blanket, fingers tangling together. She held his hands, one flesh and one machine, and gave them both a reassuring squeeze. She wasn’t sure whether the gesture was meant to comfort him or herself. But his hands were strong as they returned her grip, pulling her closer. She let go, just for a moment, to pull the blanket tighter around the both of them.

They sat together, curled into each other and clasping hands like a lifeline, and she remembered something her father had told her when she was very young. 

She had been playing in the castle gardens, and she had fallen and cracked the bone in her foot. The pain had gone quickly after the break was set, but she had cried and cried with no sign of stopping. Her father and scooped her up and pulled her into his lap, and had told her something that she’d never forgotten.

Broken bones heal stronger than before.

As she sat gazing at the stars, her head on Shiro’s shoulder as she listened to his breathing, she mused that it must be the same with broken people. They healed stronger.


End file.
